India : A separate auctions for solar projects using desi modules

The Renewable Energy (RE) department of India decided to hold separate auctions for solar projects using locally manufactured modules to help domestic producers of solar panels.

Joint secretary in the ministry, Tarun Kapoor said “the first of these, a 500 MW tender for solar projects using only locally produced modules, is going to be announced soon.”

Although auctions of projects with only domestic equipment have been held earlier, they always required solar module producers to source locally made solar cells. In some future auctions, this norm will not apply.

These kinds of projects will help boost the sales of local module manufacturers since solar developers winning projects inÂ IndiaÂ prefer to import equipment fromÂ ChinaÂ and Thailand, which are in between 8-10% cheaper due to economies of scale and technologically superior.

CEO of Vikram Solar, Gyanesh Chaudhury said â€œwe are very pleased with the development, India’s capacity for producing solar modules is 5,620 MW annually, while that of solar cells is 1,212 MW.Â â€œ

The second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), begun in late 2012, had mandated that “developing domestic manufacturing capacity across the value chain is one of the thrust areas.”Â

While India’sÂ solar energyÂ programme is expanding towards a target of 100,000 MW by 2022, its solar manufacturing has lagged behind.

Solar Energy Corporation (SEC) of India, helped the local solar manufacturers by specifying that only domestically made solar cells and modules should be used.